Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 4, 2026
06:17
Author Spotlight: Investigating the Effects of Mind-Body-Movement Practices on Brain Function
Published on: January 26, 2024
2.6K
Is covert spatial orienting embodied or disembodied cognition? A historical review
1Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2006)
|November 6, 2019
Summary
Attention shifts before executed eye movements, but not before prepared-but-unexecuted ones. Covert attention shifts do not prepare eye movements, suggesting disembodied cognition in endogenous attention.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Philosophy of Mind
Background:
- The study reviews Klein's oculomotor readiness hypothesis concerning endogenous control of visuospatial attention.
- It examines the relationship between eye movements and attention shifts within the framework of embodied cognition.
Observation:
- Attention shifts in anticipation of executed eye movements.
- However, attention shifts are not observed when eye movements are prepared but not executed.
Findings:
- Endogenously controlled covert spatial orienting does not involve the preparation of eye movements.
- This contrasts with the expectation that attention shifts precede or coincide with motor preparation in embodied systems.
Implications:
- The findings challenge the notion that covert spatial attention under endogenous control is strictly embodied.
- Suggests a more dis-embodied mechanism for attention allocation in certain cognitive contexts.
Related Concept Videos
01:17Cognitivism
2.6K
Cognitive psychology emerged as a significant field in the mid-20th century. It focused on understanding humans' internal mental processes. This approach emphasizes how people perceive, remember, think, and solve problems—elements critical to human cognition.
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process...
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process...
2.6K
01:05Cerebral Hemispheres
1.9K
The human brain, a complex organ, is functionally divided into two cerebral hemispheres—left and right. These hemispheres are interconnected by a structure of paramount importance, the corpus callosum. This substantial bundle of neural fibers is not just a bridge between the hemispheres but a crucial element for the brain's comprehensive functioning. It enables efficient communication between the two hemispheres, allowing each side of the brain to control and receive sensory and motor...
1.9K
01:15Depth Perception and Spatial Vision
1.7K
Depth perception is the ability to perceive objects three-dimensionally. It relies on two types of cues: binocular and monocular. Binocular cues depend on the combination of images from both eyes and how the eyes work together. Since the eyes are in slightly different positions, each eye captures a slightly different image. This disparity between images, known as binocular disparity, helps the brain interpret depth. When the brain compares these images, it determines the distance to an object.
1.7K
01:28Major Somatic Sensory Pathways
2.3K
Sensory impulses related to touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception from various body parts, such as the limbs, trunk, neck, and posterior head, travel to the cerebral cortex through the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway. The pathway’s name derives from the two white-matter tracts that convey the impulses: the spinal cord's posterior column and the brainstem's medial lemniscus. First-order sensory neurons extend their axons into the spinal cord, forming the...
2.3K
01:26Metacognition
553
Metacognition is a conscious process where individuals are aware of their cognitive and executive processes, such as planning before solving a problem or self-monitoring during reading. For instance, a writer may need help with composing a piece. The situation involves a writer who is working on a piece of writing, but while doing so, they realize that something is missing. They notice that their characters lack depth or details. This realization occurs because the writer is reflecting on their...
553
01:20Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
2.1K
Cognitive psychology is the field of psychology dedicated to examining how people think. It attempts to explain how and why we think the way we do by studying the interactions among human thinking, emotion, creativity, language, and problem-solving, as well as other cognitive processes. Cognitive psychology studies how information is processed and manipulated in remembering, thinking, and knowing.
This field emerged in the mid-20th century, following a period dominated by behaviorism, which...
This field emerged in the mid-20th century, following a period dominated by behaviorism, which...
2.1K